Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c8.3

c8.3

Custom was another source of law. Based as they are on the Vedas, the Dharma Śāstras are only codifications of the customary laws of the land. This custom is the sadācāra of the people. In determining the nature of the laws in India their codifiers took into consideration the immemorial customs prevalent among the people, the manners of particular countries and the observances of the different castes and tribes in their daily activities. Hindu society has developed with the advance of time and hence diversity is its principal feature. It comprises different types of social groups each with its own law to govern and guide its conduct. Since the codifications were based on the practices of the people, the codifiers had to recognise the various customary laws of the different social groups. But a customary law could have the sanction of law only when it does not conflict with the scriptural law or the sacred law of the land. Should there be a conflict, the latter is to prevail. That customs change among a people with the advance of time is indicated by new interpretations or applications given to written laws by later commentators. Such commentaries were necessary for the exposition of the fundamental laws in the light of the experience of the society. As Dr. Jolly remarks, “the latest stage of Indian legal literature is formed by the commentaries and systematic works which have been developed from the Smṛtis from the early mediaeval age. As the products of a new age and inspired by mighty princes and ministers these extensive compilations gradually drove the Smṛtis so completely out of vogue that at the time of the establishment of British rule in India the Mitākṣara, a law compendium of the eleventh century, was the standard work in the greater part of India.”¹ Another of such commentaries is the Parāśaramādhavīyam, a commentary on the Parāśarasmṛti by Mādhava, the value of which for an examination of the judicial organisation under the Vijayanagar kings we shall discuss subsequently.